Today in the Connected Economy: Affirm, Verifone Join Forces; Mastercard, Coinbase Want to Ease Access to NFTs

Today in the connected economy, buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Affirm launches a partnership with Verifone, while Mastercard and Coinbase hope to make it easier for people to buy NFTs.

Meanwhile, Square and Ally collaborate on streamlining deliveries, and we take a closer look at how carmakers are turning into software creators.

Verifione, Affirm Team to Expand BNPL Options

Digital payments firm Verifone is working with BNPL service Affirm to connect Affirm’s payment options to the Verifione network.

The collaboration will let merchants offer customers the ability to pay in installments online and in-store, while offering Affirm’s full range of payment options, including bi-weekly and monthly payments, the companies said in a news release.

Mastercard, Coinbase Make It Easier to Buy NFTs

Mastercard and Coinbase are joining forces on a project that will allow more people to join the NFT (nonfungible token) community by classifying NFTs as digital goods. The two companies are also offering a new way to pay for NFT purchases using Mastercard cards.

“Just as we helped millions of people access Bitcoin for the first time in an easy and trusted way, we want to do the same for NFTs,” Prakash Hariramani, senior director of product at Coinbase, said on the company’s blog.

Square, Ally, Partner to Offer Streamlined Transactions

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform Ally is working collaborating with payments firm Square to offer clients streamlined transactions and deliveries.

“Through this partnership, Ally and Square will offer restaurant, retail, and eCommerce businesses a fully integrated suite of tools designed to maximize profits, reduce costs, and streamline deliveries to loyal customers,” Ally said in a news release

Software Updates Extend Automakers’ Relationships With Owners of Connected Cars

Some recent software updates for connected cars showcase the blurring lines between vehicles and software platforms and automakers and software developers.

For example, there’s the electric car company Polestar, which made a web browser available as a free download that operates in the vehicle’s 11-inch center display and works similarly to how it would on a mobile device.

Polestar had previously introduced a software upgrade — available in some European markets — that adds power and torque and boosts the speed of the Polestar 2.

Text Request and Authvia Debut Payments by Text

Business texting software provider Text Request is working with conversational commerce platform Authvia to provide text-to-pay services through the Text Request platform with a new offering dubbed Payments.

Available on all Text Request plans in Canada and the U.S., Payments is geared toward service-based businesses looking to collect payments while lowering their workload.

Syracuse, NY Teams With InvoiceCloud for Digital Tax Payments

The city of Syracuse, New York has begun working with EngageSmart’s InvoiceCloud to offer a system that lets residents to make online tax payments. The new portal opened late last year, replacing a system that only let those payments be made via cash, check or credit cards.

With InvoiceCloud, Syracuse residents can pay tax bills using their phone, text, GooglePay, ApplePay, PayPal, or online. The platform lets users schedule payment on specific dates and features lower convenience fees than its previous system.

Intellabridge Teams With Prime Trust to Transfer People From Dollars to DeFi

Blockchain digital bank Intellabridge Technology Corporation has formed a partnership with financial infrastructure provider Prime Trust to welcome Intellabridge customers to the world of decentralized finance.

Intellabridge CEO John Eagleton said the collaboration “opens up the remarkable returns seen in decentralized finance by offering customers an on-ramp that makes it easy to move assets from traditional financial institutions like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, and exchange to USD stablecoins which can be deposited into Kash’s high earnings savings accounts.”